I Wont Back Down
by Green Gallant
Summary: Centuries ago an evil Guardian tried to unlock the secrets of the multiverse and was locked away for his crimes. Now he has escaped and decided to begin his experiment anew by combining the worlds of Earth-16 with the Marvel Universe world of Earth-616 merging their inhabitants into whole new individuals. Will the heroes discover this in time? Based on Amalgam Comics. DC/Marvel fus
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: This is something I wrote as something of a response to my recent bout of writer's block. For a while now I've noticed that Young Justice fans are alot more educated now than when Teen Titans first came out. In fact it'll be 10 years this July since that show debuted, and as someone who dedicated the last few years of his life knowing all there is to know about DC Comics history, and as someone that tries to think outside the box in his own stories. It seems alot harder to come up with original stories now. Which has been leading to more frequent battles with writer's block. Anyway I decided to try something completely original, something no one else has thought of yet, which as some of you may know is my shtick and came up with this gem. Enjoy. _

**_I Wont Back Down_**

**_Chapter One_**

**_A Universe Reborn_**

The multiverse one of the greatest mysteries known to sentient life, a veritable microcosm filled with hundreds of alternate worlds strung throughout the known reaches of reality. Though vast and beyond our physical understanding, the multiverse is a tightly woven web of parallel universes that exist independent of one another, separated only by tiny vibrational barriers that serve as the borders of these known universes. Each one with its own separate and distinct identity filled with a variety of alternate lifeforms autonomous and self sufficient within the boundaries of their own world. Since the beginning of time a delicate balance has been sought between the known universes to avoid unintentional interaction for fear that one universe might destroy another if they were to breach one another's space. It is for this reason that the Maltusain race of aliens known as Oans became the Guardians of the Universe to prevent such travesties from ever occurring. And is one of the many duties we guardians seek to uphold. Because of this no lower lifeform must ever known the existence of these parallel worlds or else incite one of the greatest cataclysms in history. Within our own jurisdiction is the parallel world known as Earth-16, which is home to a relatively young generation of superheroes. A hundred parallel universes away lies Earth-616 that is home to a more experienced and oft times more cynical version of humanity. A group of heroes and villains radically different from the ones on Earth-16, because of this group and the terms they use we have decided to call this world the _Marvel Universe_ due to the antiquated name they once used for super-heroes. As for the aforementioned world known as Earth-16 we have dubbed this the _DC Universe_ or _'Derivative Causality'_ due to its similarities to the original generation of heroes within the default reality known as Earth-1. The fact that this Marvel Universe is so radically different from all the others has captured our attention and made us wonder what may have factored into this world's unique development. How different are the heroes from all the others? And why do they bear no resemblance to all the other heroes of most of the cataloged worlds?

During our studies we have discovered a second multiverse autonomously sitting outside of our own. Through further investigation we have learned that these are divergent earths of the Marvel Universe completely separate from our own and numbering in the _thousands_. At first we thought the one we resided in was the only known multiverse which has given way to theories of there being even more multiverses outnumbering our own. But one of our scientists was overwhelmed and wouldn't rest until he discovered the secrets of creation itself. That scientist's name was _Krona_, a fellow Guardian of the Universe; Krona was driven mad in his pursuit of the ultimate knowledge and began destroying alternate universes to discover what made them tick. The Guardians upon discovery of his nefarious experiment were shocked that their brother would destroy sentient life to learn the secrets of the universe and were forced to imprison him. However the Mad Guardian would turn his latest experiment and the very means to destroy the cosmos the _Anti-Motion Wave Gun_ on his fellow Guardians threatening to snuff out their own immortal lives. The wave motion gun was disabled and Krona was captured and banished from the order of the guardians where he was left to spend the rest of his years imprisoned inside a Cosmic Cube, an invention in the Marvel Universe. And for the next thousand years he would lay in state while the Guardians went about their business. There inside the cube Krona plotted his escape. During his centuries of imprisonment Krona had begun manipulating the energies that kept him in status slowly figuring out their composition and began to draw that power within until finally…he escaped.

From inside the hyper vault where the Cosmic Cube was stored a bubble of blue plasmatic energy erupted from within the device, destabilizing the cube's protective barrier until it imploded on itself and Krona emerged as tiny streaks of yellow energy filled the area the cube once occupied as Krona entered the physical plane once more. He was a dwarf like being with artic blue skin and medium short white hair that receded back slightly exposing his wrinkled forehead and dressed in a red and white robe with a black over the shoulder drape with the Green Lantern symbol displayed in the very middle as he breathed in the air of the physical surroundings he so deeply missed. Finally after all those years he was free. Using his newly acquired cosmic energy he blew open the vault sounding an alarm within the halls of Guardian headquarters grabbing everyone's attention as a squadron of Green Lanterns raced toward the disturbance. In the bowels of the great command chamber Krona plotted his vengeance against the Green Lantern Corps and began to psionically reconstruct his wave motion cannon. And was complete within minutes of his liberation.

The Lanterns had just barely made it down to the lowest chamber and entered it when Krona caught sight of the first responders turning his rebuilt weapon on the hapless ring bearers and blew apart the basement with a simple blast catapulting Krona through the levels and blowing a hole through the roof of the command chamber as he flew overhead with the weapon in hand. As a slew of Green Lanterns flew towards him to contain Krona including the likes of Killowog and human Green Lanterns Kyle Rayner, John Stewart and Guy Gardner along with newest human recruit Simon Baz. Back on Earth, fellow Corpsman Hal Jordan received the alert as his ring flashed while he was on the Watchtower beating a hasty exit for Oa. On the Green Lantern homeworld Krona fired another blast of his Anti-Motion Wave Cannon striking the city beneath him as emerald buildings went up in a flash keeping the Corpsmen at bay before turning his sights on the Oan Central Power Battery. Anti-Motion was a theoretical science invented by Krona that when fired froze atoms and electrons in place, but due to their constant energy the atoms would struggle to move until they implode on themselves thus resulting in the complete destruction of the target to where even atoms cant survive. Arguably making it one of the most lethal weapons in the known universe.

Given no other choice the Lanterns opened fire at him with their laser beams and constructs while Krona fired back at them causing the constructs to self destruct while the Guardian gained access to the Central Power Battery from afar with his outstretched hand. But the Lanterns were undeterred as Killowog battled the Mad Guardian on his own wielding an emerald hammer. While near the epicenter of the battlefield Hal Jordan emerged out of the zeta station outside the command chamber with the Central Power Battery just over his right shoulder in his line of sight and flew into battle. On the front lines the human Lanterns tried holding Krona at bay while Killowog engaged him in person, swinging his hammer as the Oan dodged it turning his weapon on the drill instructor and readied to fire until an upward swing of his hammer knocked the weapon back streaming just beyond the reach of the Central Power Battery as it hit Oa's moon.

Killowog yelled as Krona recovered swinging his hammer downward at Krona's face missing by inches and reversed it cracking the guardian in the ribs as Krona's eyes glowed pale blue enraged at this and palm blasted the Lantern point blank in the chest throwing him back before training his weapon on the drill instructor with fatal aim. Jordan yelled grabbing his attention crafting a giant emerald fist with his ring and smacking the Oan in the face before he could fire and was joined by his contemporaries Guy, John, Kyle and Baz as well as the other alien Lanterns. But the guardian would not be contained blowing them back with an artic blue sphere of energy and strengthened the field forcing them into buildings and obelisks that littered the emerald city. And began siphoning off the Battery's power through sheer force of will.

It was then the Guardians tried to interfere, but the Oan was too far-gone, too consumed with power and madness and soon cast them off like flies. Within moments he had drained half the energy within the Central Power Battery as rings started to lose power indeed the battery itself started to falter as its strength could be heard spilling out of its core and into Krona's body. And at the same time began a transformation and grew in size from a tiny three foot tall being and started to grow cloaked in the emerald energy and expanded into a more muscular frame. His unruly snow-white hair grew out turning pitch black, developing a thick mustache and goatee, while his Guardian robes changed as well from red, white and black to deep purple armor over a black bodysuit with amber gloves, boots and a long flowing cape, with a matching golden belt. And was now the same height as an average human being. While the Green Lanterns struggled against his force field Krona powered up his weapon as beams of light spiraled into the mouth of the barrel pointing straight at the earth. Hal Jordan was the first to break free in a burst of rage before Krona shot at the planet surface and the world around them was enveloped in a flash of white.

After the flash the world around appeared to have been reset upon destroying Oa, Krona after avenging himself against the Guardians then used his newfound cosmic power to begin a new kind of cosmic experiment. What happens when two fully distinct universes are merged into one? For eons they had been warned against allowing one universe to impede upon the realm of another. What would be the end result? The mad guardian was about to discover, it all happened in a flash when he had decided to introduce the alternate universe of Earth-16 and cross it over with the dimension of its polar opposite Earth Six Hundred and Sixteen and now the experiment…begins.

It all happened effortlessly enough as the inhabitants of each earth barely had enough time to register what was happening to them as the two earths were combined into one. He had decided to name this new world _Earth-1616_ due to their accompanying numerical designation and to his fascination he watched the two earths combine into one. The transformation was absolutely seamless, as neither world seemed to react adversely to the other and was fully merged within moments having accepted the foreign world as its own and a new planet Earth emerged in perfect symbiosis and had quickly learned that the inhabitants of the two worlds merged as well forming totally new entities that were equal parts of their prior identities into one new cohesive symbiotic form. It was beyond amazing; in all his studies he had never imagined that such symbiosis was possible. But in the back of his twisted mind had always hoped for such a result, it was the perfect experiment…the _ultimate_ experiment he thought as he watched the new beings as their origins began to unfold.

In the farthest reaches of the Canadian wilderness in a top-secret government laboratory a man stripped down to his black trunks was at the heart of an insidious experiment. With his wrists and ankles clamped down by robotic arms a team of scientists looked on behind protective glass as a raven haired man with a robust frame was being forcibly injected with an experimental metal rumored to be indestructible. The subject screamed in horror as the hot liquid Adamantium was pooled into his bone marrow giving him enhanced strength while the scientists documented the changes from the other side of the protective glass wall. The man strained his chest in pain as the scalding Adamantium coated his bones it was maddening. He wanted to eviscerate every last one of those bastards that were subjecting him to this, make them feel what he was going through. As the metal started coating his bones he could feel an even worse pain emerging from his hands, he turned to his right as he felt it creeping through the back of his hands until finally they came bursting out, three razor sharp blades of steel. Blinded with pain the man cried out louder than ever, but then something even worse rippled through his back. He could feel it building as his screams built while the scientists looked with a mixture of horror and wonder.

His back muscles started to pulsate it was as though he was growing giant tumors out of his shoulderblades and upper back. The man bowed his head, clinching his teeth and eyes and groaned in bitter agony as the tumors grew to monstrous size while the scientists stood around in stunned silence until finally just when it seemed that he could stand no more they burst revealing a pair of raven black wings as the man howled to the highest echelons of the experimental chamber, sweating profusely as his wings unfurled before the alarmed scientists. The man had been broken, delirious with pain and blinded by the maddening neural synapses of his transformation while the scientists still shocked by the violent metamorphosis scrawled on their clipboards as another one rushed to the computers while the remaining scientists admired their work as Weapon M's latest project was complete. And the kidnapped Jean-Paul Logan was their newest agent, whom the scientist heading the malicious experiment would rename the unfortunate soul _The Harbinger_, instrument of death and destruction.

A few hundred miles away in the skies above the wilderness of Alberta, Canada a black military chopper was assaulting a small passenger plane. On board the airplane was a family of three; at the helm was Maj. Jonathan Christopher Grayson, his wife Mary Katherine Grayson and their son six year old Scott Grayson who were on the run from his father's military arch rival Deacon Zucco since they had escaped the corrupt. An insane Air Force general that had tried to overthrow the US Government and was now hot on the Graysons' heels after escaping his secret base, through Christopher did his best to sabotage it by blowing up all the planes and helicopters and exposing their location. The general was now out for blood as he rained machine gun fire down on the civilian aircraft from his Apache helicopter. The major did his best to evade them they were no match for the general's superior force. While this was happening Scott's mother Katherine was strapping her only son into the lone parachute that was on board. Her mother gave him a loving last glance whereas the little boy didn't have the slightest idea what was happening his mother hugged him one last time as she and her son looked towards the front of the cabin where his father was seated at the controls.

His father gave him one last parting look and stood up and calmly made his way towards Scott as he and Katherine embraced their son, while his mother reminded him to pull the ripcord before callously pushed him out. The little boy screamed as he free fell with the last fleeting images of his parents as a rocket headed towards them. Tears fell upwards as he reached out towards the plane and went up in the next second in a fireball while little Scott clinched shut his eyes and instinctively opened the parachute as the canopy burst open gliding him down to safety. He fell a few hundred feet as the fiery wreckage descended over the wooden horizon while the helicopter caught sight of little Scott and tried to snip him out of the sky. The bullets cascaded overhead ripping holes in the canopy as little Scott was sent plunging into a tree top where it snagged at the peak and tore in two as he smacked into a branch on his stomach and then fell backward whacking several more branches before crashing face down on the forest floor and was knocked unconscious. The helicopter had long since lost sight of him and beat a hasty retreat back to base leaving poor Scotty alone as the shredded remains of the canopy slowly descended over the trees. Unbeknownst to any of them an African American forest ranger had caught sight of him from his pickup on a ridge and raced down the dirt road to assist the littlest victim.

It would be some time before the boy would recover but eventually he was nursed back to health with a concussion. And although an investigation was launched the army general would evade capture time and again despite their best efforts. In the years that followed Scott would be placed in a series of orphanages for most of his adolescence until at the age of thirteen a strange new power manifested, vibrant and destructive energy blasts erupted from his eyes sparking without warning and nearly burning a girl he was talking to and causing massive property damage to the orphanage he was staying at. The boy closed his eyes not understanding what was happening to him and fearful of his new powers and what would become of him. That is until a kindly old man in a suit approached him and offered to help him control his powers saying that he was just like him. In the years that followed he would train a fellow team of teenage warriors harnessing their spectacular powers as the next generation of superheroes.

During this time Scott would ascend to the title of field commander wearing a navy one piece uniform with a gold bird symbol on his chest, with a matching belt and shoulder pads, and a gold-rimmed visor with a single red slit running from eye to eye that mimicked the logo on his chest and would take on the costumed identity of _Nightwatch. _

And was joined by his teammates the alien empath Jean Anders the inheritor to a powerful cosmic force known as the _Star Phoenix _a green leotard with a golden firebird symbol on her chest with golden thigh high boots with a green angular tip at the top, yellow faux gloves highlights reaching up to her elbows with burning unruly auburn hair, brilliant green eyes and a deep tan using the codename of _Phoenixfire._

And was next joined by an African teammate named Viktor Rasputin as one of the victims in an alien invasion. Victor was one of the civilians working along with police and emergency personal to rescue the injured and dying, Vic was one of the very few to openly defy the alien invaders and attempted to fight back using large rocks and even one of the invaders weapons. A golden electro pulse lance, Vic was struck down by one of the aliens but wouldn't go down without a fight and advanced towards the warrior despite his injuries and would be hit a few more times before impaling the alien's side with his weapon. Those who witnessed it were moved by his tremendous courage and fought harder providing an escape route for those closest to Victor. In order to turn the tide the British government realized that they needed to build a stronger warrior, one with a heart as fearsome as Victor's who had fallen in service to the crown and his fellow man. And was rebuilt as the world's first biomechanical cyborg who would soon take the name of the _Iron Colossus_.

Across the world many more amalgamated beings emerged as did their origins, in war torn Afghanistan billionaire industrialist Hal Stark had been the victim of an IED and had suffered shrapnel injuries to his chest, a doctor would later perform life saving surgery while using a crudely made electromagnetic device that kept the shrapnel from entering his heart while both he and the doctor were held prisoner by a terrorist faction. Deep inside a cave where the lot was imprisoned Hal discovered a mysterious emerald ring buried in the sand. In the back corner of the cave wall laid an ancestral lantern that was paired with the ring. The lantern was like nothing they had seen before with curved elliptical edges and was a deep forest green. As Hal cradled the mysterious lantern it came to life startling the two men as the industrialist fell into a trance as his mind was transported to another planet. And found himself standing before 12 strange little men who divulged to him the secrets of the mysterious power lantern. While in the present his friend looked on in shock as Hal Stark knelt before him wearing an emerald suit of armor with golden highlights on the upper arms, face mask and thighs while in the middle of his chest was a glowing reactor enshrined with a metallic circle with two bars highlighting the top and bottom of the symbol and became the _Iron Lantern_. Armed with this new technology he and Yinsen broke out of the cave, though their victory was short lived as Yinsen was hit by a sniper sending Iron Lantern into a rage and avenged his friend's life.

A few years later his best friend and confidant Stewart Rhodes would be called into action wielding a heavily armed successor suit of armor called the _Silver Sentinel. _And would soon be joined by other armor wearers with their own variants eventually forming the Iron Legion. And still many more heroes and villains would emerge in the new world. All the while outside the dimensional barrier of Earth-1616 Krona continued to watch his experiment flourish noting every subtle change and nuance in this new infantile universe. And though the passage of time felt like any other to those living within the realm of Earth-1616 Krona was watching the planet's development at an advanced rate of speed allowing him to witness the years unfold before him like a flower blossoming in the sun. Watching it progress into the modern day unbeknownst to his victims, the experiment continues.

_Author's Note: All right so what'd you think of that? I've been working on this story for the last four days now and I have to say it was worth the effort. The inspiration from this story comes from an event back in the 90s called Amalgam Comics which was a join comic book event co-published by rival companies DC Comics and Marvel Comics. In which the two companies decide to have their characters compete against one another in fan favored battles and were then combined into a whole new character leading into the creation of the Amalgam Universe. And published a slew of new comic book titles under the Amalgam Comics banner while DC and Marvel temporarily halted production of their regular titles to celebrate the event. A similar concept was then explored years later in the Superman/Batman storyline 'Mashup' featuring the 'Justice Titans'. While this story is an adaptation it will feature original versions of DC/Marvel characters. And that's pretty much all for now. So what do you think? If you have any suggestions or amalgamations you'd like to see let me know._

_Also I thought I'd tell you who all the fused characters are: Nightwatch (Scott Grayson) in case you haven't guessed it is an amalgamation of Nightwing (Dick Grayson) and Cyclops (Scott Summers) from X-men. His parents are fusions of thier respective parents John and Mary Grayson and Christopher & Katherine Summers. Cyclops' father is also the space fairing hero known as Corsair. While their killer is a cross between Tony Zucco and the alien D'Ken who are involved in each party's respective origin. Phoenixfire (Jean Anders) is a fusion of Phoenix (Jean Grey) and Starfire (Koriand'r/Kori Anders), Iron Colossus (Viktor Rasputin) are Cyborg (Victor Stone) and Colossus (Piotr 'Peter' Rasputin) of X-Men fame. Harbinger is Wolverine (James 'Logan' Howlett) and Azrael (Jean-Paul Valley), while Weapon M is a cross between Weapon X and DC Comics' Project: M. The former of which is involved in Wolverine's origin. Iron Lantern (Hal Stark) is a fusion of Iron Man (Tony Stark) and Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), while Silver Sentinel (Stewart Rhodes) is a cross between Green Lantern (John Stewart) and War Machine (James 'Rhodey' Rhodes). While Krona is a DC Comics creation, and the main instigator of the story's plot. In the comics Krona is a rouge Guardian of the Universe obsessed with learning how said universe was made. And would move heaven and earth to do so. Having been a recurring enemy of the Green Lantern Corps and the DC Universe in general. He was also one of main antagonists in the JLA/Avengers miniseries published by DC and Marvel Comics in 2003. While the Cosmic Cube is a Marvel Comics invention better known as the Tesseract in The Avengers movie. With this and hopefully more to come. _

_Please review generously, _

_Green Gallant. _


	2. Under Construction: Author's Note

Author's Note: I started this story a while back as an elaborate new project and apparently its a little more ambitious than I had initially imagined. As you know the story is a merger of DC Comics and Marvel Comics canon, based on a project they did called 'Amalgam Comics'. I have a lot of ideas for this series but apparently its a little harder to write than I had anticipated and I seem to have hit a wall. It's still something I very much want to write, I'm just having a little trouble with it and was wondering if anyone would be willing to help? For some reason the ideas aren't translating to paper as well as I had thought. I already have a plethora of characters I would like to use.

The basic idea is this: Two characters, one from Marvel and the other from DC are united into one new being that is equal parts of each character. Iron Man (Tony Stark) and Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) are merged in this new setting as Hal Stark the Iron Lantern, and continues as such. The basis is that two character that have something in common are fused into one new being and can include supporting characters such as Green Lantern (John Stewart) and War Machine (Jim 'Rhodey' Rhodes) become the Silver Sentinel (Stewart Rhodes), who are both sidekicks/solo heroes in their own right. And so on.

For some reason I've had trouble getting the next chapter off the ground and I wasn't sure if anyone would like to help me write this story. To be a co-author I would care to recruit anyone that has a working knowledge of both DC Universe and Marvel Universe canon, its not necessarily required but would be an asset, and someone that has a creative spark to help build up the story. I'll provide them with a character roster and help me get the next couple chapters off the ground if anyone is willing to. Let me know what you think.

Please review,

Green Gallant.


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